Dying embers
by PointlessKnife
Summary: Sometimes people don't recognize love until it is taken away from them, then they have to make do with the memories they shared. "Why Natsu, why?" she sobbed. "'Cause I love you, jeez what a weirdo!" he breathed, before his eyelids fluttered shut.


**A/N A little something I came up with. Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail**

The job actaully went well for the first part. It was withing walking distance of Magnolia, so all the way there Lucy was talking to a cheerful Natsu, both smiling and laughing. It was on days like this that Lucy felt her love for Fairy Tail swell up inside her, a warm glow that remained in her heart. The sun was shining and casting golden rays on the road, making everything seem somehow better. The whole team laughed and chattered until they reached the place where the bandits were reported to have been seen.

The plan to ambush Team Natsu also failed, thanks to Natsu's senses. Considering it was only the four mages on the team, fighting off the first wave was alarmingly easy. They went down after a couple of hits and there was only ten of them. The second wave was much harder, twenty men that were pretty good at fighting. Lucy had to summon Loke and Virgo, taking a toll on her magic energy, she also used her whip. Natsu, Gray and Erza seemed to enjoy themselves until the final waves, when they finally seemed to struggle. These thieves were S class level. Naturally, Lucy managed to get cornered. She'd used too much magic, three golden keys had taken their toll, Tarus had been wounded and had to go back to his world, Loke and Virgo were occupied with some of the other men. Through all the chaos, her gaze locked with Natsu's furious, wide eyes. The dagger came down but it never hit her. In a flash of crimson Natsu collapsed. He gasped with pain when the blade slipped into his chest. Lucy rushed over to his side. Tears began to pool in her eyes, looking at his shaking smile he offered her.

"Why Natsu, why?" she sobbed, leaning over him.

"'Cause I love you, jeez, what a weirdo!" he breathed, voice trembling. His eyelids fluttered shut. The scarlet pool expanded outwards, soaking her knees. She was hardly aware of the chaos stopping around her as she tried desperatley to stop the flow of blood. She only realized that the fighting had stopped as the wound suddenly froze over. Gray looked shocked and for once, scared. Erza requiped into her flight armour and gently scooped Natsu up in her arms. They ran like the world was ending to get to the guild hall.

Natsu saw Lucy about to die. He couldn't let that happen, not again. Anything but her death, it would feel like his heart was being ripped apart. He didn't want anyone to be unhappy like that ever again. He made his choice. He ran. It hurt, when he was stabbed, agony shooting around his body and vibrating in his skull. It was nothing compared to what he felt when he saw that he made her cry. His vision started to fade. If he was going, he had to tell her now. If he left without saying this, he would never forgive himself.

In the hours of chaos that followed Lucy only remembered images, like photos clicking in her brain. Porlyusica's pale face. Master desperatley trying to reassure the whole guild. Her crying with Levy and Erza. Things seemed to start moving when Porlyusica stepped out the hospital into the guild.

"He's secure." her voice cut through the cheers. "However, he's in a vegetative state." she sighed when she saw the blank looks. "A coma." And the whole guild plummeted into despair. No one noticed the healer leave. They were too busy crying or breaking things. Team Natsu rushed to Magnolia hospital to see him. Panther Lily sat in silent sadness, when a sudden thought struck him. Happy had gone on a job with Wendy and Carla. He hoped for the little blue Exeed's sake that Natsu woke up before he came back.

Something inside Lucy broke when she saw him asleep on the hospital bed. His face was a little less pale but peaceful and empty. It didn't suit him. She couldn't bare to see him without his goofy grin, teasing smirk or cheerful smile.

 _"Hey Lucy, join my team!"_

 _"Luce, let's go eat!"_

 _"LUCY!"_

"N-Natsu.." she whispered. Tears rolled down her cheeks, burning her face. "I love you too, come back to me, you idiot."

Three days later and it seemed like Lucy had given up on living. Her hair was dirty and unwashed and she had stopped eating. Erza, Levy and Mira forced Lucy to carry on, asking if Natsu would want her to end up like this? They all had a cry then, but it all seemed a tiny bit better.

Gray had gone to the mountains. He destroyed boulders and cried in the comfort of the cold. The snow fell with his tears, when he finally couldn't take it anymore he collapsed in the snow. There was a possiblity that Natsu would never wake up, that he would die without ever seeing the light again. How did this happen to his best friend, practically his brother. How could he let it happen? He heard a sniffle and looked behind him to see Juvia, looking so ashamed and guilty that it was heart breaking.

"Juvia followed you... She knows what it is like to loose someone you love. The rain drove everyone away. She misses Natsu-san as well but she knows he had a bond with you. There is always the chance he'll wake up."

And as she held him close and comforted him, he couldn't have loved anyone else more.

The fourth day was the worse. Wendy, Happy and Carla came rushing into the guild, all smiles and laughter.

"Natsu! I have a fish for you." Happy called, smiling happily. The trio blinked and looked at the sad faces of the guild. "What happened?" Wendy asked, fear creeping into her voice.

"Where's Natsu?" Happy asked. Everyone winced as Happy said his name.

"WHERE'S NATSU?" Happy repeated, voice going shrill. It was as if his cry was the magic words. Master Makarov finally spoke, his voice grave.

"If you want to see Natsu, go to the Magnolia Hospital."

Happy broke down in tears. The hospital smelt of chemicals which he knew Natsu would hate, and the constant beeping of the machine would irritate him to no end. It wasn't right, Natsu didn't belong here. Why was he here? What had happened? The story stabbed at his heart, tears leaked out of his eyes and he ended up flying into Natsu's side, howling for him to wake up.

His next visitor happened when the hospital had closed. Just as the first milky rays of dawn began to touch the sky. The man stepped calmly through the window, dark eyes sorrowful. He took a look at the peaceful face of Natsu and his face became unreadable. The book trembled in his hands as he held it close to his heart. Just as the sun became visible, the man turned and jumped out the window, disappearing before he hit the floor. The first beam of sunlight made the tears on the floor glitter.

Natsu blinked open his eyes to see a dark room. It was night and a breeze ruffled the curtains. In the silver moonlight, he saw the blonde head of the girl he loved. She appeared to be asleep, head resting on the bed and kneeling. He figured that it couldn't be very comfortable to he lifted her up onto the hospital bed, then left to go sit on the chair by the bed. His heart rate increased when he saw the date on the electronic clock. Somehow three weeks had passed since the job. Had he been... asleep, all this time? It seemed like that knife did more damage than he thought. And his guildmates had paid the price. Tears trickled down his face. _Stupid._ He cursed himself. _I'm so, so STUPID._

Lucy woke up feeling warm. She woke up on a bed. A hospital bed. No way... She turned around to see Natsu staring at her, dark eyes round and very much open. She just stared, jaw slightly open. Then rushed over and trapped him in a bone crushing hug. She started crying and screaming at once.

"You complete and utter IDIOT. I was so worried. I-I thought you had gone forever..." she trailed off,sobbing harder into his shoulders. She felt his warm arms embrace her and hold her close.

"I'm sorry. I know what I did was dumb. I just couldn't bear the thought of losing you, everyone suffered because of what I chose to do. I don't regret what I did, I wasn't about to let you die, I just wish there was another choice." He said sadly, looking at the floor so she didn't have to see him cry.

"Natsu." she breathed. "Never do something as stupid as that again. Promise?"

He gave her a nervous grin, "I-I promise."

Neither one of them knew how it happened, but both decided they didn't care. The nurse who saw them kissing smiled then went to call the guild. The cheers that nearly defeaned her but her smile didn't waver, she was overjoyed that they got their happy ending and this wasn't another hospital tragedy.

The renunion would have made anyone smile, with the cheering and hugs and tears. Everyone was laughing and sobbing in joy. They all were overjoyed to see their precious guildmate returned to them. Natsu wasn't the only one who ended up training to become stronger, so no one would ever be lost again. They were one family you didn't want to mess with.


End file.
